Mark Messier

Mark Messier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey center of the National Hockey League and former special assistant to the president and general manager of the New York Rangers Hockey Team He played a quarter of a century in the NHL 19792004 with the Edmonton Oilers New York Rangers Hockey Team and Vancouver Canucks He played professionally with the World Hockey Association WHAs Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers He was the last former WHA player to be active in professional hockey and the last active player who had played in the NHL in the 1970s Messier is considered one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time He is second on the alltime career lists for playoff points 295 and regular season games played 1756 and is third for regular season points 1887 He is a sixtime Stanley Cup champion five with the Oilers and one with the Rangers and is the only player to captain two professional teams to championships His playoff leadership while in New York which ended a 54year Stanley Cup drought in 1994 earned him the nickname The Messiah a play on his name He twice won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the leagues most valuable player in 1990 and 1992 and in 1984 he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player during the playoffs He is a 15time NHL AllStar In 2007 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility In 2017 Messier was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history